Court tosses inmate's lawsuit over jail voting

It must have been the excitement of the approaching presidential election that prompted Antonio L. Bell to sue Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. back in August.

Bell, an inmate at the county's jail, claimed in his handwritten federal court complaint that jail officials were making it difficult for him and other inmates who had yet to be convicted of felonies to cast ballots.

But according to Clarke, Bell never voted before when he wasn't in jail.

A federal magistrate dismissed the suit in October after Bell failed to come up with the initial partial filing fee of $11.50.

Bell's suit was a long shot anyway. Clarke's office made a presentation to county supervisors in March about its efforts to accommodate voting by inmates. It indicated that signs are posted in all housing units and that all inmates receive a memo when they enter facilities explaining how they can go about requesting absentee ballots, or, if they have work-release privileges, how they can arrange to vote at the polls.

Clarke noted Monday that in addition, his office's own research showed that Bell didn't appear to care much about voting when he was not incarcerated.

"City of Milwaukee Election Commission records show that Bell registered in June 2008, and was deactivated by the City of Milwaukee for failure to respond to mail from the commission," read an email from Clarke's office.

"The number of times Bell voted in his life? Zero."

Bell, 32, has been in jail since Aug. 5, 2011, according to jail records. He's charged with three counts of sexual assault of a child, and battery by a prisoner.

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